Kids these days! (kinda long)

[unclejampuff]

I used to work at a movie theatre in my hometown. It's a pretty small town, and we were the only theatre within an hour of driving distance. That meant that, while customers sure did complain like it was going out of style, they'd come back 99% of the time. It also meant that we were one of a very limited number of options you had for fun on the weekend. Every single Friday and Saturday, we were packed to the rafters with people, mostly 12-17 year olds. I'm sure many of you are familiar with some parents' practice of leaving their children at a public place, with the idea that the employees will babysit for free. If that is true, this evening we had brought enough epic fail for the whole class.

Bit of a set up. I had just been promoted to assistant manager about two or three days before. The district manager was coming by to see how I was handling my new duties(I suppose the staring at my boobs the whole time was merely a perk). Friday night kicks in, the people start coming in, everything seems to be going smoothly.

Cast:
Me- the cutest grumpy dinosaur to ever grace a theatre
DM- our creepy district manager
T- my manager, martial arts badass
S- my favourite employee
CS- crazy lady who blames everyone else for her problems
(Thoughts in italics)

I'm taking tickets, trying to keep an eye out for underaged kids sneaking into rated R movies. DM is supervising the concession counter and getting in my way. T is running around like a headless chicken, because the boy cannot maintain in what he thinks is a crisis. S is manning the box office, rocking it like he always does. We're doing our thing, doing it well. The crowds go into their movies, we start cleaning up after them. This woman storms in.

SC: I WANT A MANAGER!!!
Me: Of all the theatres in the world, she had to walk into mine. Hello, I'm Lauren, how can I assist you?
SC: What kind of business are you running here? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?????
Me: ..... I'm sorry?
SC: I left my daughter here to watch a movie, and I cannot believe you've let this happen to her!!
Me: Oh, God, did a little girl get hurt? Oh, please, no, not my shift!! Is she okay? What's happened? She's not hurt, is she?
DM: What's going on here? Ma'am, has your daughter been injured?
SC: *very snottily* She hasn't.... no thanks to YOU PEOPLE. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!!! I'll be writing to the editor of the _____ News to let everyone know how you treat your customers!! *storms out*
Me: What just happened?
S: *walks up* What was her problem?
Me: I have no idea...
S: I mean, it's not our fault her daughter's such a slut.
Me: WHA? What has that got to do with... wait, is that even the same...?
S: Yeah, her daughter's been giving blow jobs in the alley.
Me, DM:
S: So-and-so came by the BO and told me about it. Ha! Skank! *walks off to smoke break*
Me: *into walkie talkie* T, you need to get down to the lobby RIGHT NOW. We have a situation outside that requires your assistance.
DM starts going outside. T is soon on his heels. They investigate. They return with a scowling young girl in tow... she is maybe 13? 14? YOUNG. Her mother is called and asked to pick up her daughter. Mother comes back, more screaming as described above.
Later in the main office, the scene in the alleyway was described to me.
T and DM walked over there and she was making out with this one guy, who had his hand up her skirt. There were about three other guys standing around, watching them. They ran off as soon as T and DM walked up. They asked the girl if she was okay, if the boys had been "bothering" her. She gets really pissed off, starts yelling in their faces about how they "ruined [her] fun".

And the mother blamed us for not keeping an eye on her. What boggles me is that she must've known what her daughter was up to, AND YET LEFT HER HERE FOR FURTHER MISCHIEF-MAKING!!! I left the job not long after that(for reasons completely unrelated to this event), and still have no idea what happened afterwards.
And people wonder why I left my hometown.

[d962831]

the mother blamed you...when she obviously failed to raise her daughter to respect herself. Good God, 14? Has anyone else noticed a trend of every year, hearing about younger and younger kids having sex? I swear I've heard of 5th and 6th graders...where are the adults, and why are they not taking responsibilty for things they should be talking to their kids about?

[Foxglove8778]

heh. This reminds me of a funny... I was working at a clothing booth at a renaissance faire. My boss had his wife and step-daughter with him that weekend, which was unusual. Seems the step-daughter had gotten in "trouble" when left to her own devices the weekend before at the faire her mother usually works at in a different state from the one I work. (The seasons overlap.)

She was 14 and had been caught in a similar situation as our alley friend in unclejampuff"s story. She didn't learn anything from that experience - being caught I mean.

Anyway, she is a flirt. She doesn't flirt with boys her own age "because they're young and stupid". Yeeeah. She likes to flirt with men from ages 22 to 42. ***sigh***

My boss really didn't want his wife's ex-husband to give him anymore grief over the step-daughter and asked me to keep an eye on her. I didn't know the backstory at that point, by the way.

So I did. I walked around faire with her, introduced her to people that were my friends. I did lose track of her for a minute - sneaky kid. When I caught up with her she was in a group of 3 guys, all of which I know to be at least 10 years older than she was, and flirting hard-core with one. When I got there he was telling her where his van was parked.

I asked him, "How old are you, by the way?" all smiles.

He smiled and said "23".

I said "Oh. Well, SHE'S 14!!!!" and yes, I did go from quiet and demure to being heard on the other side of the shire.

I kept that up all through the morning and early afternoon. When I finally herded her back to her step-father's booth she looked at me and said in a whiney, petulant voice... "You're really cool, but I hate you."

Her mother turned to my boss, pointed at me and said... "She gets a raise."
((daughter's face ~~> ))

[rerant]

DISGUSTING!
You guys could have easily called the police and had her daughter and the boys (if they were still around) arrested for public indecency, as well as gotten her mother in some hot water for... something.
Ok so what I don't know about the law could fill a warehouse, but there must be SOMEthing the cops could do to teach the mother of a 13 year-old tramp a lesson.

[lightmylamb]

Just recently my boss told me a story about how a 12 year old girl in her son's grade told the whole class about her abortion, and how she got pregnant in a bathroom at a party.

My younger Brother's ex-girlfriend has been dating my oldest brothers old best friend since she was 15. He was 22 at the time. Creepy. In my town, there are a lot of girls going out with much older guys, and it's kinda gross.

[bainsidhe]

DISGUSTING!
You guys could have easily called the police and had her daughter and the boys (if they were still around) arrested for public indecency, as well as gotten her mother in some hot water for... something.

I agree. I would have loved to have seen this woman's face if she arrived to see her daughter under the wary eye of management only to begin ripping into them for daring not to watch HER daughter and have them respond with "Don't worry, the police have just arrived. They'll keep a watchful eye on her (or maybe you both )"

[GingerBiscuit]

This is what happens when you don't teach your kids the difference between sexual attention and affectionate attention.
Could go into a rant about the politics of underage sex and the names we call girls who partake, but it's a topic for fratching.

[Dips]

Girls who have been sexually abused can act out that way at a young age. It's sad.

[blas]

Sounds like that girl's mom should take her onto the Maury show. "Help! My 14 year old daughter is out of control and gives blowjobs in alleys!"

Then again, it's not anymore alright that these young men are into these....activities...as well.

[tropicsgoddess]

Whatever happened to parents being responsible for their own children and teaching them about self-respect?!!!

[Geek King]

Let's see, she knows the daughter is doing these things, but she still drops her off at a place where she is known to have done such things before, and still leave the girl unsupervised. Sounds like contributing to the delinquency of a minor to me.

And yes, it can be applied to actions with your own child.

[chainedbarista]

sounds like cps needs a call as in yesterday.

man, even with low self esteem at that age, no way in hell would i have done something like that.

horrible...

[Saydrah]

Agreeing with Dips on this. The kid has probably been sexually abused and is re-traumatizing by acting out sexually. There are unfortunately many kids in her predicament, and very few options for them. There are foster parents with special training to supervise and help them heal, but always fewer to go around than kids who need them, and that's only the kids who are lucky enough to be removed from the home where the abuse happened/is happening.

Really sad. I hope she gets the help she needs someday. My sister is graduating with her doctorate this spring and wants to work with troubled teen girls, and has done a lot of study on abused teens acting out sexually.

[draftermatt]

God I want to post a rant about "abstinence only" and all that, but I'll refrain (I wrote a paper on it in college).

But what is wrong with the mom? I can see complaining if it was going on inside the theater, but why didn't she take the girl home when she saw it or found out about it? It is mind boggling.

[Jbball]

We had this catholic school girl working at my theatre, who turned out to be blowing all the guys on the staff (I didn't know at the time, or I would've been one of them). She threated everyone that told anyone she would claim rape if the word got out. Well, the word got out in the long run, she threatened to sue the company, but the guy in question quit and soon thereafter, she quit too.

Sadly, I actually dated her before it all started happening. But, it was weird. I never got that vibe from her. We went out for smoothies and to dinner/movies, but she never came on to me. I missed a golden opportunity!!